Finnick & Annie Here to save you
by FIsHRfriEnDSNOTfOod
Summary: I've decided to write my interpretation of Finnick and Annie's story, starting just before Finnick's games. Please let me know what you think of it! Rated T but may move to M later on. Hope you enjoy it x
1. Chapter 1: The day before

_Annie_

It's a Tuesday, and we're sat at the back of class, Cleona and I, when Finnick walks in. He's rather late and Talise, our writing teacher, gives him a stern look as he flops into his seat. I can Esme, at the front, batting her eyelashes at him whilst all of her friends giggle. Cleona nudges me with her elbow and grins. I give her a look that blatantly says, _stop_, but she just shakes her head at me and turns away.

After school, we head back to Cleona's house and we change into something more suitable, then we head down to the sea. It's packed, as usual, with people sunning themselves, diving off piers, fishing. I smile and plonk myself next to a large rock. Cleona sighs, "I think I'll go for a dip, do you mind?"

"No, not at all, you go." Cleona is an excellent swimmer, people have tried numerous times to teach me but I'm hopelessly terrified of water. I watch as she does a beautiful swallow dive into the pool and doesn't emerge for what must be at least 30 seconds. I love to watch the way she swims, moving gracefully through the water as if she were a dolphin, she comes up occasionally and gives me a brief smile, before disappearing back under.

I'm distracted from Cleona for a minute when I notice Finnick, he's arrived, fashionably late again. I gaze at him as he rips off his shirt and makes sure that everyone gets an excellent view of his chest before he grins and takes to the water. I smile, he's _such_ a charmer, _but an incredibly sexy charmer_, I add privately_. _Cleona comes out of the water and throws herself down next to me. She looks from me, to him, and back to me, "you are obsessed aren't you," She says with a grin.

"Yeah, I'm only human." I look up at her, "you must be the only girl in the whole District who doesn't think he's beautiful."

"Oh, he's beautiful I agree, but I like guys who have a," she pauses, "less obvious kind of beauty."

"Speaking of which," I add as I see Adrian make his way to us, he smiles at Cleona and gives me a brief wave before they are absorbed in each other. "Oh, _please_, get a room," I tell them and Cleona gives a light laugh which is followed by another session of kissing. I roll my eyes and stare out to the sea. I'm so happy here. I cannot imagine what it must be like to live in a place packed with factories, or with bits of coal dust floating in the air. It's lovely to be able to smell the salty water, have the wind whip your hair around your face. A place like this makes everyone who lives here look beautiful.

_Finnick_

I shake my head and water drips from my hair, pulling on a t-shirt, I begin to walk up the path leading from the beach, I am stopped, by a deep, sexy voice, coming from behind me.

"Hello Finnick," Esme slurs and I look at her,

"Hey, Esme, what's up?"

"Nothin' much, y'know, you?" she says, twirling a strand of hair around her finger.

"Cool, I'm just heading back home, it's my mum's birthday so, I'm sorry, I've really gotta go," I begin to turn away, but she reaches out and gently touches my arm,

"Oh no, please stay, just five more minutes?"

I sigh, torn between going back to my home, where my mother was surely already waiting, or staying here, where I wanted to be. With one last look at the stone path, I turn back.

"Yeah, I'll stay." She smiles,

"Good." She takes my hand and we run together across the sand, we head to the sparkling blue ocean and I pull my top over my head, she drags me into the water and I barely notice her finger running up my arm and softly touching the back of my neck. We go further into the water and my hand finds her waist, she locks her hands together round my neck and pulls me close. I look into her sparkling black eyes and touch her lips with mine.

_Annie_

I open my eyes, with difficulty, and realise that I must have dozed off. Cleona sits beside me, she looks at my bewildered face and grins, "hello, sleepyhead, am I that boring?" I feel my face spread into a smile,

"Nah, I'm just tired." I yawn as I say this, which makes both of us laugh, "What time is it?"

"About half six."

"Seriously?! Already?"

"Yup, you were proper out cold there babes." As she says this, I notice that there is next to no-one left on the beach.

"Jeez, I better get back home, they'll be worrying, I sh-"

"Nah-ah, you're sleeping at mine tonight, remember? We have no limits." She winks at me and stands, with a wicked grin on her face, "come on."

She reaches her hand out and I grab it, she pulls me across the sand and together, we break into a run, Cleona skims the edge of the sea and the water splashes our feet. I squeal and give her a push which knocks her right under. I stop running as she lies, face down on the surface, still. I scream in terror and she jumps up, laughing. Despite my annoyance, I find myself laughing too, "my gosh, Ann, It's about three inches deep, did you think I'd died or something?"

"That was mean." I say, and stick out my lower lip. I cross my arms and turn away, in mock anger.

"Oh, come on," she giggles, poking me in the back. She knows I'm not serious.

She takes my hand up again and we walk out, onto the pier, when we reach the edge, she pulls off her sandals and sits down, sticking her feet into the calm water. I sit next to her, cross legged. She looks at me.

"It's not gonna hurt you know," I shake my head and she squeezes my hand, "just your feet, you'll like it. Promise." I trust Cleona more than I do anyone, and I know that she means it, so I slip off my sandals and cautiously put a toe in. She was wrong. I don't like it. But I've done it. Straight away, I lift my foot, but she doesn't frown, instead she smiles, she understands. I hug her and we sit down, we talk, we can still talk, we spent all day together and we can still talk, I don't even know what about, until the conversation turns to tomorrow, when I find something out.

"You what?! Are you mad?!"

"Don't say that," she says, offended, "it'll be… an experience."

"An experience.." I repeat faintly and Cleo nods.

"Not tomorrow, but next year, maybe."

"Cleo, no offence meant, but you'll be fifteen. They'll smash you with their little finger." She makes an exasperated 'pfft' noise and the matter closes. But terror fills me up. Cleo plans to volunteer. She plans to volunteer, for the Hunger Games.

_Finnick_

"Shit." I whisper, "Look, Es, I need to go, if I'm any later, I'l-"

"-be in the same amount of trouble you would have been an hour ago. Come on Finn, please stay." This time, I know what to do,

"No." I say firmly. Esme sees defeat and doesn't push it, we say goodbye and she skips off to her home, and I slump off to mine, chewing my lip nervously. What the fuck am I going to do? I dither outside for a few seconds, before taking a very deep breath and opening the door. My mother is sat at the small table in our kitchen. When I walk in, she stands up and speaks quietly, "where were you." I rush into my terrible explanations and she goes through the usual, 'you've been so selfish', 'I'm so upset', 'you've disappointed me', etc. I launch into my well-rehearsed apologies and try to look upset. My mother's eyes glint dangerously. She looks at me and she shakes her head, like she can't believe that it's actually me. "you don't mean any of that. After everything I've done for you, I can't even spend one day with you?" I can't help it, I roll my eyes, bad move. She hits me round the head.

"Woah, no need to be a bitch mum," _SHIT, why did I say that? _My mother stifles a sob and runs from the room. Frustrated, I head to the cellar, my favourite room. I open the cabinet by the window and pull out my favourite trident. I let out my frustration on one of the dummies and tear at it until it is mere scraps of fabric. Eventually, I calm down when I manage to turn my thoughts to one subject. _Tomorrow_.


	2. Chapter 2: The reaping

_Annie_

I pull back my curtain and stare out of Cleona's bedroom window, pushing hair from my eyes. Already, workers are preparing the district for the arrival of Opal, our Capitol escort. Roped off areas being set up, the stage being swept, hedges surrounding the Justice Building being given a final trim. Sighing, I lean back and shut the window as I hear Cleo call me from downstairs, "Coming," I answer. When I enter her kitchen, she stands with her back to me, preparing breakfast. I study her for a moment, sizing her up, wondering if she will volunteer next year. Her great-uncle did win, several decades ago, but he was eighteen, I'd have thought Cleona, of all people, would've been against volunteering, after she lost her cousin to the games only four years ago.

"Morning," she smiles breathlessly, "Looking forward to later?"

"S'pose, big party, init," I try to return the smile but she suddenly pulls out a chair opposite me and sits down, her eyes bore into mine.

"What's up? Huh?"

"N-n-nothing, I-"

"You're still hung over what I said last night, aren't you?" there's no point in trying to deny it, she knows me better than anyone and can tell when I'm lying, I nod glumly.

"Don't be," She reaches out for my hand and gives me a reassuring smile, "I might not even do it." I can also tell when she's lying and I know she still has every intention of volunteering, but I push the thought out of my mind and grin back at her,

"Okay."

Two hours later, we're standing in the roped off sections assigned for fourteen year olds. Finnick stands barely meters away from me, at the front of the section, reaching through the rope to hold, my stomach plummets, Esme's hand. I chew my lip impatiently.

Opal stands. "Welcome, welcome everyone her to this _wonderful_ occasion."

She is met with a series of woops and cheers, unlike many of the other districts, for 'appreciates' the games. We don't. None of us _like _the games, we just want the glory that they bring. Personally, I wouldn't say I'm too bothered. Then again, if we hadn't had so many victors, we'd be in a much worse state than we are currently. Basically- we feed off the dead children.

Opal talks us through a series of uninteresting things, before finally getting to the business of choosing the names. She needn't bother, there's _always_ some volunteers. She goes to the male bowl first, stretching her clawed fingers and closing them sharply around a slip of paper, clearing her throat, she reads the name

"Perseus Terana"

The fifteen year old reaches the stage with a hard face, Opal asks for volunteers and there are several cries. Five or six people run to the stage, it's a battle of punching and shoving until one remains standing at the top of the steps. Floppy bronze hair, sparkling green eyes, body that must be all muscle.

Finnick.

_Finnick_

I laugh for the cameras, Opal asks my name, "Finnick Odair." I state, "Fourteen." There's a gasp from the crowd, then a lot of angry yelling, they don't think I could do it, they think I've lost them the games. I snatch the mic out of my escort's hands and roar, "THE VICTOR OF THE 65th HUNGER GAAAMESSS!" I rip off my shirt to show my hench body and give the camera a flashy wink.

I'm not daring to believe that I've actually done it. But I have. And I know I'm going to win.

The Capitol accent snaps me out of my thoughts.

"Cleona Herodina."

_Annie_

I turn frantically sideways at my best friend, but she's not there, she's halfway up those stone steps, seconds away from becoming a tribute, when suddenly…

_Finnick_

"I Volunteer!" the shrill voice cries, I look eagerly around, to see who I'll be facing. They're not at the front with the eighteen year olds, not slightly further back with the seventeen year olds. They're not even with the sixteens! I'm puzzled, who is it? Then I see her. Prancing up towards the platform. Fury wells up inside me, she passes my ear and I hiss,

"what the fuck do you think you're doing? You do know only one of us can win? Bloody idiot."

"Esme Carters, 15." She turns back to me and gives me a simpering smile, I retaliate with a death glare.

"Oooh, this is interesting, a fourteen and a fifteen year old, how's this going to turn out?"

"Ahem, um, we're boyfriend and girlfriend actually," Esme giggles and pouts towards the camera. I've never been so embarrassed to be alive. Though the Capitol audience is probably going mental, the rest of four are shaking their heads in disgust.

I don't show this though, giving one last wave to the cameras, I am escorted to the Justice Building.

**Hm, it's short, I know, but I didn't have much time this afternoon, I assure you more will be up shortly, thanks for reading and please, please review! x**


	3. Chapter 3: He's going in

_"A ten in training, quite spectacular, especially from a fourteen year old. I'm sure you'll agree?"_

_"Meh, not the best I could've done, you'll all see a _lot_ more in the arena." I give them a wink, just a wink, that one small gesture drives them wild _

"_so, you think you have a chance of winning these games?"_

"_I have more than a chance, these games were _made _for me to win, you might as well just call off the whole fight and just kill this lot already! You have your victor, and he's sitting right here."_

_I could never have imagined what it's like to sit here, looking across at the biggest audience I've ever seen, all screaming my name_

"_Finnick! Finnick! Finnick, we love you! Finnick!"_

_I smile and wave, soaking it up._

"_Very well then, that's all the time we have, I give you Finnick Odair of District Four!"_

_The crowd whoop and cheer, they whoop and cheer, just for me, they go mental for me, they are _obsessed_ with Finnick Odair._

_They love me._

_I stand on my podium in a determined position, the plates begin to rise and I grin. Shutting my eyes, I think about the glory, about the life that so surely awaits me,_

_5 My name is Finnick Odair._

_4 I am fourteen years old._

_3 I am from District Four._

_2 I am in the Hunger Games._

_1 And I am going to win._

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**Well, this was incredibly short but I felt it had to be this length, keep reviewing guys, the next chapter's nearly finished:D Thank you x**


	4. Chapter 4:That's what they do

_Four left… four left to die._

_It would be easier just to end it. To end the pain. But I can't. Not when I'm this close._

_So many are gone, yet so many are left to go._

_My hand closes around my trident. I hear footsteps. Drawing short breaths, I show myself, bursting through the trees._

_A knife plunges into my left arm. Roaring with pain, I pull my trident from through my belt and drive it through my attacker's heart._

_It's that quick._

_It's that easy._

_The cannon booms._

_Three to finish._

_Night falls, I curl up inside my rocky alcove, shivering, starving. I had so many parachutes. I gained so much at the Cornucopia. But I wasted it. I wasted it because that's what we careers do. The face of the district 9 girl shines in the sky and, abandoning my efforts to say awake, I find my eyes shutting and I drift off into an uneasy sleep._

_The sound of a cannon wakes me, I wonder how long I've been out. Immediately after it fires, Honey, District 1, glares at us from the clouds._

_Two left._

_It's time to hunt._

_I just hope she gets to him before I do._

_I hope they finish each other._

_I've been walking for hours and am just stopping for rest when I hear a soft rustling from above me. My head whips up and beady eyes pierce into me. A knife fires down and barely misses my shoulder. It's him. He's only twelve. And he needs to die. So I have to kill him. And then… and then I have to kill Esme._

_He can fight, it was unexpected, the sudden strength of a twelve year old from district 8, he's not bad at it, either, but I know, the whole of Panem knows, he's no match for me. Upon the cameras, I am merciless, I am a killing machine. I am anything that keeps them happy._

"_Are you going to come down?" I say, softly, "Or will I have to wait here all night?" I say this knowing that I can't last all night, I doubt I can last another hour, I haven't eaten or drank anything in days, hunger and fatigue are wearing me away. The eyes disappear and I hear the tree rustle. Then the neighbouring tree. Then the next._

"_Right, you're playing it like that, are you?" I mutter through gritted teeth. I force myself to move_, I have to kill this boy, _I follow the sound of the rustling, until I hear a gasp, then a scream. His body flops to the ground and I shut my eyes and throw with all of my might._

_They're going to create a dilemma; me and Esme will be forced to meet. I'm not waiting for it to start. I set off for the Cornucopia._

_I am walking, I have been walking for hours, I have no knowledge of plants, no knowledge of what is safe to eat or drink, and I know that I will not win this game unless I kill her within the hour._

_But I couldn't._

_I couldn't kill her. My girlfriend. They want me to kill her. Well I won't._

_She appears faster than any mutt. Her piercing, calculating black eyes bore into me and I don't think. I don't think at all. I just act._

_Because that's what the Hunger Games does to people._

"_May I present the winner of the 65__th__ Hunger Games… Mr Finnick Odair of District Four!"_

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**Soooooo, there it is, I'll carry on updating and I'm sorry if it becomes really inconsistant, but please review and let me know what you think!x**


	5. Chapter 5: I'd do this for her?

_Annie_

The day of Finnick's return was anticipated highly by everyone in 4. To have a victor at the age of 14 was not only an achievement- it was unheard of. The only thing that our district could talk about was the games, especially the final battle, where it had been down to district four alone.

It was the people in our year at school who didn't seem to join in with the festivities as much. None of us had ever been in the games before and watching a classmate- a friend for some- being murdered by another, consumed us with horror like no other.

It had never really hit us at the reaping, that someone we had known pretty much all of our lives would be dead within the month. It hit us when it happened.

Esme's death hit all of us like a death in the games had never hit us before, the games were given a new appearance among us, what had been an exciting battle of honour became suddenly a ghastly assassination of those who are most innocent.

I finally throw my paper chain of glittering tridents onto the kitchen table, abandoning hope of trying to untangle it, before turning to Cleona. "Cle?" I say cautiously, she gives a small jerk of her head to show she's heard me, I open my mouth, trying to think of the best way to ask her the question that's been burning at the back of my mind for almost a week now. "After…after what…" I pause, sifting through the many ways of expressing it, "When it…happened…you can't…well, you can't any more... seriously be…you can't seriously be thinking of…" I break off early and she purses her lips, maintaining her silence.

I snatch up my bunting and march from the table, leaving Cleona alone. Anger boils inside me. She's changed. Completely, since she's told me what she's willing to do. We spend less time together, she trains in private- I often see her with other people, people who me and her have had fun slagging off together, people who she had always sworn to me that she would never, ever hang out with. I know I shouldn't let this bother me; she doesn't belong to me, she can hang out with whoever she wants to. I feel shit now, about leaving her there, I want to turn back, however a fresh thought of resentment surfaces- she doesn't care, she doesn't care about leaving me alone as she chats and laughs with Adrian and 'the lads' as she calls them.

Cleona's attractive, she gets a lot of attention, from boys especially, but she's never been bothered about wearing makeup to impress them (not that she needs to), or about acting cool around them. I remember when I spoke to her about this, she just giggled and said, "Me and Adrian, well, he's sweet, but hunnay (She has NEVER called me that before) it aint gonna last, I'm gonna need some backup for when I get bored." She saw my expression and grinned, "don't worry, babe, you're still number one," Then she winked and walked off to her gang of followers, leaving me with an empty seat beside me, as she climbed into Esme's usual one. It didn't feel like I was.

Perhaps Cleo would win, being a few months older than me, she _would_ be fifteen, but no. No, she couldn't. She doesn't have it in her to kill; she just can't see that yet.

The rare times I have with Cleona are special, and I just fucked this one over, though given that we remained in a stony silence throughout almost the whole time, special wouldn't have been a word I'd have chosen to describe it.

I miss her.

Is she ever going to come back? Is anything I do going to make her? I doubt it.

Unless…

It was she who told me I could…_"It's not gonna hurt, you know… you'll like it, I promise…"_

But I couldn't.

I won't.

I cant.

And yet I find myself pulling my dress over my head and stepping further and further, off the sand, onto the pier, right to the very edge. For her? I would do this… for her? … After everything…? I shut my eyes and shiver as the wind slashes at my toes.

Then, taking one last breath of salty air like it's a drug, I throw myself forward.

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**I meant to put Finnick's POV in this chapter, but it's been a long day, and it's late, and I'm exhausted, so sorry! I am also sorry for the slow update, I forgot to say, I was on holiday so I had no access to the pc. **

**Again, I'm sorry that this is so short, I have half of the next chapter written so I promise you, it'll be up shortly xxx**


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